I don’t believe in killing civilians. Moreover, its counterproductive in a counterinsurgency. But, many civilians take sides, sometimes both sides. I do recall watching a mother and her small child setting a booby trap. I had them both in my sights and wanted to kill them both. I didn’t. I do know that if I had, there would not have been an investigation.
Were the goat herders spared by the doomed SEAL squad merely noncombatants, or were they in effect scouts for the Taliban? It’s a tough area to decipher, and worse when you know that the media and the JAG corps will crucify you if you make the wrong decision (in their REMF eyes.)